“It was a good call. I blatantly pushed him,” Smith said. “It wasn’t like I was trying to lowbridge him or something to make sure he didn’t get it. It was a good, hard foul. I can understand why they gave me a flagrant.”

Referees looked at the sequence — which occurred with 3:49 left in the game and the Celtics ahead 97-89 after Smith had missed a 3-pointer — the TD Garden serenaded Smith with a chant typically reserved for highway traffic disputes.

“I love it,” Smith said. “I don’t want the opposing fans to like me. That’s not why I’m here. They can chant and scream all they want, it actually makes me feel better about myself. They know me.”

Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson correctly called this a Flagrant 2 foul. It’s too bad the officials didn’t have the balls to make the correct call.

Here’s hoping the league reviews the play, upgrades to a Flagrant 2 and suspends Smith for Game 3.